Finally Learning to Love
by LuckyxLabradoodlexLoverx7
Summary: AU: Belle and Adam have a daughter named Ariella.  One day, the three of them are at the beach when Ariella swims too far out and drowns.  This is the story of Belle and Adam after she dies.  Rated T because I'm paranoid.  One-shot.


Disclaimer – I own nothing of Beauty and the Beast, except the DVD and the Broadway album. I also own my original character and the plot. The rest belongs to Disney. 'Nuff said.

A/N: I got this idea while reading a Tangled story and also while watching the movie Beauty and the Beast the other day.

Summary: AU: Belle and Adam have a daughter named Ariella. One day, the three of them are at the beach when Ariella swims too far out and drowns. This is the story of Belle and Adam after she dies. Rated T because I'm paranoid. One-shot.

Genre: Angst/None

Rating: T

* * *

><p>Adam was so happy when Belle gave birth to their daughter – Ariella Melody. She was the most precious thing in the world. She had her father's sandy-blond hair and had her mother's kind brown eyes – a perfect combination of both of them.<p>

"May I hold her?" Adam asked Belle. She nodded and carefully handed the sleeping baby to him. Adam looked down at his sleeping daughter and kissed the top of her head before handing her back to her mother.

That night, the two of them got very little sleep – Ariella would wake up at the strangest hours, crying her head off. Belle took care of her while Adam snored away.

Belle climbed in next to her husband and felt him take her in his strong arms.

_Six years later_

"This is the perfect spot!" Ariella told her parents. They were at the beach for the day, accompanied by Mrs. Potts, Chip, Cogsworth and Lumiere. Adam and Belle spread out the towel and rubbed suntan lotion on each other and Ariella.

The seven of them had lunch and watched the waves crash onto the shore. Ariella and Chip flew kites on the shore while they waited for their stomachs to settle so they wouldn't get cramps while swimming. Chip was two years older than Ariella, but treated her like his own sister.

The children decided that their stomachs were fine and went for a swim. The adults stayed on the beach and talked, keeping a careful eye on the children.

"Wanna dive?" Chip asked Ariella. Chip was more adventurous than Ariella was. Of course, he was eight and she was six.

Ariella looked over at her parents and waved to them. Adam and Belle waved back to the children and turned their attention back to Mrs. Potts, whom they were having a conversation with.

Suddenly, Ariella's head vanished beneath the waves and did not emerge. Adam removed his poet shirt and was about to go in after her when Chip dived under the violent waves and emerged holding a limp figure. Adam dove into the water and helped Chip.

"She's not breathing." Chip told Adam. Adam took his daughter in his arms and carried her to shore. He noticed her foot was caught in a lobster trap. Adam carefully removed Ariella's foot from the trap then started CPR on her.

After several minutes of chest compressions, Ariella did not wake. Adam sobbed as he gathered his only child in his arms. Belle came over, tears in her eyes.

"Is she-?" Belle asked, putting a hand over her mouth. Lumiere went on Philippe to get the physician. Mrs. Potts held Chip while Cogsworth frantically paced back and forth.

A short while later, Lumiere returned with the physician. The physician placed his stethoscope against Ariella's chest and did some chest compressions. He then stood up and looked at Adam and Belle.

"I'm sorry, but she's gone." The physician told the couple.

"No, she can't be gone!" Adam wailed.

"There was too much water in her lungs and I can't revive her." The physician said sadly.

"BRING HER BACK!" Adam screamed. Belle sobbed into Mrs. Potts' apron while Cogsworth and Lumiere tried to calm down the prince. Chip stayed by his mother's side, not wanting to leave her.

Everyone headed back to the castle to do their own things. Adam and Belle went to grieve and make funeral arrangements.

"Adam and Belle, I'm sorry about Ariella." Chip apologized a couple days later – he had been avoiding the Prince and Belle.

"I know you are, Chip." Belle told him, her voice sad.

Adam and Belle seemed to fight more often than not. They spent two weeks with not talking to each other.

On the morning of Ariella's funeral, both Belle and Adam put on their best black outfits and headed to the church, not saying a word to each other.

Once enough time had passed, Belle and Adam decided to have another child – not to replace Ariella, but to fill the void in their life.

_Two years later_

Belle was in labor with the couple's second child. Adam stayed by his wife's side, squeezing her hand and sang her every song he knew.

Finally, after twenty-three hours of Belle being in labor, the couple welcomed a son into the world.

"He's handsome." Adam noted, stroking the top of his son's head.

"Just like his father." Belle whispered.

"What shall we name him?" Adam asked, holding his son for the first time.

"I was thinking we could name him after my father – Maurice." Belle said.

"That would bring up too many memories – that could be his middle name." Adam noted. Maurice had suddenly passed away when Belle had been expecting Ariella.

"What about Tomas?" Belle suggested. Adam stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Tomas Maurice – I love it!" Adam told his wife, kissing the top of her head.

Up in heaven, Ariella and Maurice looked down at the new family.

"I'm glad to see them so happy." Ariella told Maurice.

"I am, too." Maurice agreed, wrapping an arm around Ariella's shoulders.

On Earth, Belle was nursing Tomas while Adam watched. He couldn't believe that he was a father for the second time.

Mrs. Potts, Chip, Lumiere and Cogsworth came into the room to visit with the baby.

"Momma, do you think Ariella would like her brother?" Chip inquired as Mrs. Potts showed him how to hold Tomas.

"Of course, love." Mrs. Potts told her son.

They finished holding the baby and exited the room, letting the parents be with their little one.

As Belle and Adam slept that night, Adam thought about Ariella and how much she would love Tomas.

"I wish Ariella was still alive." Adam whispered to Belle.

"I know. I wish she was alive, too." Belle whispered to Adam.

They spoke a little more about Ariella before Belle found herself grow sad. She didn't like talking about Ariella much, but knew that the three of them would be reunited with her soon.

_Tale as old as time  
>True as it can be<br>Barely even friends  
>Then somebody bends<br>Unexpectedly_

_Just a little change  
>Small to say the least<br>Both a little scared  
>Neither one prepared<br>Beauty and the Beast_


End file.
